1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable, hand held bar code input device with an optical scan element and user-friendly power-saving triggering attachment, the entirety of which can be worn on the arm, wrist or back of the hand and allows the user to scan a bar code symbol by simply pressing the trigger when it is connected to the portable hand held bar code input device.
2. Description of Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Different code readers or scanners are known in the prior art for reading various symbols such as bar code symbols appearing on labels or on the surfaces of an article. Essentially, a bar code symbol is a coded pattern of indicia comprised of a series of bars of various widths spaced apart from one another to bound spaces of various widths, the bars and spaces having different light reflecting characteristics. Readers for scanning or imaging systems electro-optically transform the graphic indicia into electrical signals, which are decoded into information, typically descriptive of the article or some characteristic thereof.
When scanned, such characteristics are conventionally represented in digital form and are typically used as inputs for a data processing system for applications in point-of-sale processing, inventory control, records processing, logistical tracking systems, mailing and package delivery systems, and the like. To this end, many applications of the bar code readers require the operator to move about the readers and carry them from place to place, and as such, the readers must be easy to carry and operate. Hand-held devices have been developed to allow a user to aim the reader at a target bar code to be read. A problem with this type of reader is that the user frequently needs to enter data on a keyboard, hold job-related items or to perform any number of different manual tasks while his hands are already being utilized for the work currently being undertaken. Traditional hand-held bar code readers have required intermittently setting down the device to perform other manual tasks, or switching to the other hand to facilitate the use of the hand for other operations. Additionally, in certain jobs such as law enforcement, military occupations, or security guard stations, it may represent a security concern to utilize one or more open hands to actually hold a bar code scanner in the course of scanning IDs, documents and other bar-code bearing particulars.
Prior art systems, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties and as described below, have attempted to address this by providing for bar code readers that can be adapted to be worn on the back of a user's hand One type of hand-mounted device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,861 to Swartz, et al. is activated by pressing a button with the thumb. A drawback of the device is that the thumb must be bent in an awkward way to activate the button. Another hand-mounted device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,972 to Sandor is activated by flexing the fingers, this device is also undesirable because the bar code scan element is activated when both the index finger and the middle finger are in relaxed non-pointing positions followed by a pointing position of the index finger and the simultaneous relaxed non-pointing position of the middle finger. Another hand-mounted device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,299 to Tierney, et al. is activated by flexing the hand such as by clenching the hand into a fist or pointing a finger in the direction of the bar code. This device, like the other described types of readers requires unnatural movements of the hand to actuate the scan element.
An additional significant drawback of conventional hand-mounted readers is that they have complex optical systems that add bulk and high scan element costs. The scan element may include a laser scanning device mounted in housing, such that a laser is aimed in the direction of the bar code. These laser scanning systems generally comprise complicated systems such as lenses and mirrors to read a bar code symbol, thus increasing the bulk and expense of such systems. Conventional hand-mounted bar code readers have another drawback in that they generally include an integrated glove that incorporates a scan element in a housing that is often bulky and sits high on the hand or finger. Some users may be required to use additional gloves such as protective gloves for lifting inventory. Bulky conventional gloves incorporating the scan element can only be worn on a bare hand and would preclude the user from wearing any other type of glove.
A subsequent attempt to overcome some of the above deficiencies is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,393 to Paratore which purportedly relates to a bar code scanning device, adapted on a glove, with an electrically connected activation switch disposed on a bottom finger tip of the glove. This attempt is also insufficient because, like the aforementioned patents, does not provide for an ergo-dynamic system that reduces repetitive stress injuries, and also does not provide for a truly compact, lightweight scanning device that can un-obtrusively rest on a users hand without interfering with work or without catching on outside objects.
More importantly, all of the above, as well as any other approaches for scanning use significant power, thereby requiring the user to constantly replace or recharge the batteries of the scanning devices. Further to this point, the known triggering mechanisms in the art are particularly power-hungry, in that there mechanisms drain additional power from the batteries by virtue of their operation. This is particularly so because all known devices use triggers that have been hitherto limited to the provision of power signal transmission to hand held scanners, thereby further consuming limited power reserves of battery packs and thereby limiting battery life.
Accordingly, a need exists for a low cost, low complexity hand-mounted bar code reader that allows a user to scan bar codes with a natural, ergo-dynamic, non-injurious motion, yet does so without compromising battery life through power-consuming triggering mechanisms.